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Friday, July 10, 2015

2428 - Power Rangers: Zero Hour - SIX

Disclaimer:
The author would like to clarify that Power Rangers and its
characters is owned by Saban Brands and not the author.

Note: This chapter has been
recently revised from its originally published version.

-o-

The haunting shell of the command Dark
Fortress slowly came into view to the people of the ravaged town of
Angel Grove during the silent afternoon hours. It was mostly silent
due to the lack of fighting, since the Space Rangers had been
repelled and possibly driven away. The five de-morphed teens, who
gathered with the rest of the crowds, looked on intently as the
fortress slowly made its way towards the top of one of the high
buildings still standing, where it slowed down to a halt and
levitated over the building.

After what seemed like agonizing
moments, a green beam shot from the underside of the command base and
everyone cowered. The beam did not destroy the building, but instead
from the beam emerged two figures. One was a black-skinned grid
warrior, while the other was a human female... and new leader of the
United Alliance of Evil.

Within the small crowd, the Rangers
looked on as Astronema watched over the crowd like a ruler would over
her disloyal subjects. Random thoughts ran through their heads, but
only one thought passed through the mind of Andros that would
dominate his thoughts ever since the news of her ascension to her
current rank had been announced. That this was all a dream and that
he would save his sister from the spell that still controlled her
mind.

"People of Earth," Astronema
called out, "For those who don't know me - and I promise, after
today that number has been reduced significantly - I am Astronema.
Today you have witnessed a fraction of the power I have at my
disposal! Even as we speak, forces fighting under the banner of the
United Alliance of Evil are emerging victorious and most of the
universe have either surrendered or been conquered.

"I can see a bunch of ragged,
dirty, fallen Earthers in the crowd." She quickly scanned the
crowd as she spoke. "And yet I see some people are conspicuously
missing. I don't see those Power Rangers. Where are those heroes of
yours now? Hiding among you in disgrace because my forces had beaten
them senseless!" A brief smattering of concerned gasps and
mumblings follows, which Astronema lets on before she continues.
"This is not acceptable! I achieve my greatest triumph and the
Rangers are in hiding! I should probably take my frustration out on
all of you and end your pitiful little lives once and for all!

"But I'm not going to do that,"
she said, much to Ecliptor's surprise - or lack thereof. "At
least not now. Instead I'm going to give you Earthers a chance to
save yourselves. All you have to do is produce the Rangers and your
world will be spared. If they are not here by tomorrow morning, then
I will destroy this planet and kill everyone on it." She paused
for a moment to let her words sink in before continuing. "I hope
for your sake that you will do the... right thing."

And with that, the new Queen of Evil
and her consorts returned to the Dark Fortress, just as quickly as
they appeared. Soon the Fortress slowly flew out of sight and into
orbit, leaving behind millions of frightened humans.

-o-

On the bridge of his flagship, Mondo
had seen the declaration of Astronema as Alliance leader and brushed
it off as insignificant. He had also seen reports related to other
parts of the galaxy, where the Alliance has either conquered or are
in the process of conquering a majority of worlds. Of course, Mondo
knows that despite their great numbers, the Alliance can't hold this
galaxy down forever.

Not as long as there's resistance,
Mondo thought, and not as long as their forces are spread out.

His thoughts were interrupted with the
abrupt rocking of the ship. He veered towards the main viewer to see
a couple of Alliance cruisers - under his command no less - suddenly
open fire on his own ship. Almost immediately, his own fighter
squadrons had launched to counter the sudden defectors, but Mondo
realized that the number grew from a few vessels to a dozen. To say
that Mondo was shocked and angered was an extreme understatement and
his body quickly vented gas.

"It must have been some hidden
protocol Aradon planted into some of the Cogs, my liege," Venjix
reported, "I am getting similar reports from ships in Squadrons
3F through 8P."

None of what Venjix was saying
registered to Mondo as he looked in horror at the fiercesome
firefight breaking out of control in orbit of the Machine homeworld.
Suddenly, Quadrafighters and other scout fighters that had launched
off from the planet below or the various capital ships under Aradon's
command made their attack runs, opening fire on Mondo's loyalist star
cruisers. From the very star cruisers formerly under his command
launched several more fighters. In mere seconds, hundreds of
thousands of Machine ships were firing upon each other, not caring
about who they hit or who they destroy. Mondo watched as his glorious
plot of retaking the Empire slowly crumbled before his eyes.

To Venjix, he said, "General, make
a run for the capital. I have an impromptu meeting with the false
Emperor and I have no intention of being late."

Venjix complied and started barking
orders to other Cogs while Mondo made his way off the bridge.

-o-

"It won't be long." The words
spoken from Ninjor were cold, devoid of emotion; the opposite of his
usually cheerful demeanor. Although he could clearly see his
surroundings, he was quickly going color-blind. Shades of grey were
the only thing he would be to see in a short time.

"Ninjor, try to stay with me."
Kimberly had already wrapped the open wound with as many cloths and
rags as she could possibly find, but no matter how many layers she
added, the blood slowly continued to trickle through the wrappings
and leak to the ground, where a slowly growing puddle of crimson
liquid laid calmly.

"No, it's not. You just have
to..." She turned away in frustration and took a long breath
before she turned back to the ailing master. "I can't fight all
those guys on my own! Even with these new powers, I can't face those
odds!"

Ninjor shook his head weakly; even that
was a struggle. "You won't have to. Not if this enchantment
works."

Kim raised an eyebrow. "What
enchantment?"

Ninjor was silent for a moment, only
heavy breathing that made Kimberly uneasy could be heard from the
armor.

"Ninjor, don't leave me hanging."

The ninja master attempted to sit up
straight. "Even if I were fully healed, we are still outmatched
and we will eventually lose the battle... and the Temple. The only
way to win this fight is for you to undergo the trial of the Ranger
Sentinel."

"The Ranger what?"

"Ranger Sentinel," he
explained, "In the days of the Nathadian Order, they were
considered the honor guards of the Order. Beings with control of the
Power that goes beyond any Ranger."

"Oh," replied Kim weakly.
"And you want to make one of these Sentinel things?"

"That's right," he coughed,
"You're already showed more ability to command the Power than
any other Ranger. The enchantment is an essential formality that
enable you to hone that control and so that you don't succumb to dark
forces."

"Alright," she said, "And
how do we pull this off?"

"By infusing my life force into
you."

Kimberly's jaw dropped in response, not
believing what she had just heard. "Come again?"

"My life is ending... whether I
bleed to death or not. But once I'm dead, my powers and secrets will
be vulnerable for the taking. By transferring my life force to you...
it'll ensure its safe-keeping and..." A hard cough interrupted
him before he continued on. "And it'll be of great help to
you... in the battle... against the evil forces."

Kim stood there shaking her head and
holding both hands out. "I can't do this, Ninjor. It's too
much."

"You can do this, Kim," the
ninja master stammered, "You're a... an honorable person with a
good heart. It's also because you... you could use the power coin's
true... power without going... insane."

"If you couldn't handle it... you
wouldn't be here now." The master let out a hard cough, clearly
struggling. "The pain is your body coming to grips with the
Power... too much for any Ranger... but by infusing my essence into
you, you can control the Power... and perhaps finish the fight."

"If that was the case," the
former Pink Ranger replied, "Then why was this recent instead of
when I was still a Ranger?"

"The knowledge implied use of the
original coin," Ninjor said, "And if they lacked power, the
knowledge was useless."

"Until the coin gradually regained
its power." She heard herself mutter out and suddenly, it seemed
all the more clearer. "Is that why I could do this power booster
you told me about? Because it's all premeditated?"

"It's a little... more complicated
than that," Ninjor struggled to get the words out. "You'll
understand once we do this... if we do this..."

Kimberly gave the plan a little more
thought and in her heart, she knew that this was the only option
available to them. That didn't make it any easier, but Kim knew that
there was never such a thing as an easy decision. So after some
hesitation, she had made her decision.

"Alright," she replied, "When
do we begin?"

-o-

"I'm telling you guys one thing. I
don't care how high the stakes are, I am never gonna ride that
shuttle ever again!"

The voice of Rocky DeSantos echoed
within the strange corridors as he, Adam Park, and Jason Lee Scott
walked through several passages. After a light source had
mysteriously taken them from the battle-ravaged Angel Grove to a
strange area of unknown origin, the three former Power Rangers
decided to leave the shuttle and check out the place. A half-hour of
scurrying corridors later, the only thing evident about their present
location was that there were plenty of corridors and very little
doors or entryways to indicate anything.

As they walked through the empty halls,
Rocky looked around the corridors a bit, particularly its structure.
"You know, these corridors almost look like the ones under the
old Command Center."

Adam stopped for a moment and looked
around. "You're right, Rocko. Could we be there now?"

"Only one way to find out,"
Jason said, "Do you remember your way around?"

Neither Adam or Rocky gave an answer,
but Jason didn't wait for one. Instead, they kept walking down the
corridor. For the next hour, all they did was navigate through an
endless network of corridors which all seemed the same. It wasn't
until they reached a large heavy door that things were looking up.
The three former Rangers kept their distance from the door, not
knowing what to expect. Much to their surprise, though, the doors
opened and within it was a darkened chamber that was
indistinguishable from where they were, yet bore an aura of
familiarity. For some time, the three were somewhat hesitant in
actually entering the door.

"Any takers?" Jason asked.

Rocky shrugged. "Your call, man."

Jason sighed. "Let's do it."

Rocky looked up and let out a hard
breath as Jason and Adam stepped through the doors. After some
hesitation, Rocky followed and looked around a little more closely at
the darkened room. After taking a few steps, the doors that the three
entered the room with closed by itself and faded from view, startling
the three.

"What's going on here?" Rocky
asked.

"Don't ask, Rocko," Adam
replied matter-of-factly. "I'm just about as confused as you
are."

Jason didn't say anything, but did take
note of his surroundings. The chamber they were was eerily similar to
the original Command Center, but the overall design, choice of
colors, and dim lighting made it seem as though this particular
chamber was older than any of the chambers he had seen before in his
Ranger years. Although he was certain that he's never been here
before, he couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarly and
nostalgia, something he wouldn't have been feeling this unless he had
been here before.

As the three Rangers got closer to the
set of consoles, they noticed two familiar characters working on
opposite sides of the circular platform. One of them, a well-built
young adult in his early twenties, took noticed at the three new
arrivals and momentarily waved his hand.

"Hey guys," the other person
greeted, a young thirteen-year-old boy who was also working with the
console.

"Billy? Justin?" Rocky was
confused. "What's going on?"

"No time to explain right now,"
Billy said, "We need to commence Stage Two of the experiment."

"What experiment?" Adam
asked, puzzled.

"Project Prodigy" was
Billy's sole reply.

Rocky and Adam momentarily dropped
their jaws at the mention of Prodigy. Although they have heard of
Project Prodigy at some point or another during their Ranger
runs, they had no idea as to what it actually was. Jason, who also
had no idea as to what the project referred to, simply looked at
Billy in awe. He shook away the feeling when the weight of the
situation at hand came to light.

"I'd hate to break this to you,
man," Jason said bluntly, "but we have a full-scale
invasion all over the universe."

"I don't believe this," Rocky
blurted out, "what could be so special about this Project
Prodigy thing that it's much more important than trying to end
this war?"

Billy stopped working and sighed before
giving his newly arrived friends his straight but simple answer.
"Because if Stage 2 goes through, we can win this war."

-o-

On the planet Nemesis, a growing group
of monsters stand before a rock formation that leads to Ninjor's
temple of power; a temple whose entrance is currently sealed by
interdimensional magic and a blockade that resulted from a potent
spell of the ninja master. To that end, after some time of trying to
"dig out" an entrance with their hands, they've decided on
a new method of entry, one that would gain them instant access to the
temple. Even now, a small group of soldiers are in the early stages
of assembling a device that will hopefully re-open the portal to the
hidden temple. It'll take some time for the device to completed and
even then, an hour might be needed before the assembled device can be
activated.

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